Charles Cole, 7, of Fort Pierce, and Johnson (right) begin an afternoon lesson of computer use and spelling at the Save our Children program in Fort Pierce.

special to Treasure Coast Newspapers

Providing some encouragement for her ambition, DeVoshay Johnson (right), of Fort Pierce, explains a few symbols in a sign language book that 6-year-old Jayna Baptiste reads at the Save our Children program in Fort Pierce. Jayna, of Fort Pierce, found the book with the alphabet for sign language and decided to begin learning it. Johnson attended the program as a boy and has remained a strong advocate of it.

special to Treasure Coast Newspapers

FORT PIERCE — When DeVoshay Johnson was 9 years old, he and his younger brother, D'Angelo, came up with what they thought was a brilliant idea: using plastic shopping bags to keep rainwater from getting into the bottoms of his worn-out shoes.